A plume of smoke shot from the train, and it roared furiously.
“Sounds like it’s working.” Aqua said.
“What was that?” Sol yelled over the radio.
“It’s working, you should be good to go!” Aqua said.
Sol cautiously started up the train, and it began to crawl forward.
“Liftoff!” Amethyst yelled at the top of her lungs.
“Aqua! This is amazing!” Sol said excitedly. “Come up here, you have to see this!”
“You’d better go up there, I can keep the engine fed.” Amethyst said.
“Thanks.” Aqua said.
Aqua walked up the length of the train, when a blinding flash shot through the train.
“Whoah! There’s lights on this train!” Sol exclaimed gleefully.
“Yeah, I can tell.” Amethyst said.
“It really is a great machine.” Aqua said.
“So, how far to the nearest city?” Amethyst asked.
“Canterlot isn’t too far away from what I can tell on this map. and the train tracks should
run right through it.”
Aqua felt his hoof bump against something else, another dead, this one a stallion.
“What happened on this train?” Aqua asked.
“Huh?” Sol said.
“Who were these ponies?” Aqua asked.
“They look like they died too long ago to be of much concern now.” Amethyst said.
“I’m not worried about something on the train, I’m worried about what’s outside.” Aqua said.
“It’s so white. You’d think nature would get bored, being all one color.” Sol said.
Aqua entered the front of the train, and looked out the windows. White whipped by him, the snow seemed to run through his vision.
“You really seem to be having fun with this thing.” Aqua said.
“It’s amazing! Have you seen how fast we’re going?” Sol said.
“Yeah, it’s pretty fast.” Aqua said.
“These suits are really annoying.” Amethyst said.
“They’re a precaution. With the train generating heat, we should be okay regardless soon,
but I wouldn’t risk it.
“I will.” Amethyst said. “I can’t stand this.”
Amethyst pulled her helmet off, letting her mane hang down freely. It was a bit chilly, even with the train’s heat, but nothing too bad.
“Guys, it’s fine.” she said.
“Don’t leave the train without it on, though.” Aqua said.
Sol began to remove his as well, and was exposed to the open air for the first time. He drank it in, let it fill his lungs.
“C’mon Aqua, it’s a lot better without it.” Sol said.
“If you say so.” Aqua said.
Sol helped him pull his helmet off, and they slid the suits off
“Hey guys! Catch!” They heard Amethyst yell, as a bag flew towards them.
“Gah!” Sol said, trying and failing to catch it.
Aqua simply used his magic to catch it, and looked inside.
“What is it?” Aqua said.
“Food, I think.” Amethyst said.
“You think?” Sol said.
“I found it on the kitchen car.” Amethyst explained.
Inside the bags were various jars of preserved foods, such as canned fruits.
“Apples.” Aqua read from one of the cans.
“Oh, and this.” Amethyst said, tossing a can opener, not quite as hard as the bag.
Sol actually caught can opener with his hooves, and began to use it on the can. Inside
were small chunks of a whitish fruit, and he took one out and ate it.
“Any good?” Aqua asked.
“It’s...amazing.” Sol said. “You have to try this!”
Already Sol felt as though he made the right choice, no longer stuck within a small metal container deep within the earth. He was free, and he had apples.
Aqua levitated an apple slice from the can, and popped it in his mouth. The sweetness of the Apple rushed through his mouth.
“This is great! Why didn’t we have these down there?” Aqua asked.
“What are you two going on about?” Amethyst asked, entering the front of the train.
Aqua levitated one of the apples, and popped it in her mouth. Surprised, she slowly started to chew. Her eyes shot open, this was the most delicious food she had ever tasted. Aqua opened the bag, nd there wre all sorts of other canned foods inside.
“Well, we'll eat well for a while.” Aqua said.
“A while? This will last forever!” Sol exclaimed.
“Not with Amethyst around. She eats for at least three.” Aqua said, with memories of her eating some of his food rations
“Funny.” she said, grabbing another of the apples.
As she took one, she turned the can, showing them a label on the front, which read “Sweet Apple Acres.” Several more cans and bags were emptied, all with delicious foods within. Amethyst let out a loud yawn, her eyes drooping.
“We should probably take shifts sleeping, and keeping the train running. I sleep first.” Amethyst said, falling over into one of the train seats.
“I’ll go feed the engine.”Aqua said, walking down to it.
Sol looked outside, but saw absolutely nothing except what was directly next to the train. He grabbed his helmet, and used the light on it to see further. The ground was completely bare. Plain white surrounded them for miles. Sol continued to scan the surroundings, until he found a large beam of wood shooting into the sky. Suddenly, they began to sprout up all around him. They had smaller chunks hanging off of them in random patterns. He lay back, scanning through the forest, looking at the branches with curiosity. Aqua entered, and sat with him, staring up at the trees. Sol scanned the sky, and found something spectacular. A small dot, shining brightly. The two of them found many more of the twinkling sparks in the sky,and were in awe.
“Sol?” Aqua asked.
“Yeah?”
“What do you think we’ll find? Out there?”
“I dunno. But it has to be better. I know it.”
“How?”
“In my dreams. I saw this mare. An elegant princess. She was out here.”
“Wait, you saw this in your dreams?”
“But it was real. I know it. She was in this big city, some place you’d never see underground. There was free space to fly, and beautiful buildings.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am.”
Sol headed back to the engine, to fuel it with more coal. The two of them waited, every now and then going back to the engine. Amethyst awoke, and switched places with Sol.
“So how much further away is it?” Amethyst asked.
“We should get there before Sol wakes up, it can’t be much further.” Aqua said, checking his map. “We’ve got no idea about time though.”
“This place better be worth the trip.” Amethyst said.
“Well, we’ve got no other leads.”
Some more time passed, and they started to see actual, standing buildings. Aqua ran off to wake up Sol.
“What?” Sol said, barely awake.
“Look.” Aqua responded.
Sol looked out one of the windows, and saw large buildings around him. He ran off to get his environment suit. Aqua and Amethyst followed suit. They stopped the train, and, with their suits fully functional, headed out. The area was somehow a bit lighter, but they still needed lights. They flicked their recorders on, and headed into the city. The three of them exited the train, suits running once more. As they had discovered in the train, air tanks were not necessary. The city was dark and eerie, being completely blacked out.
“Isn’t it supposed to get brighter?” Sol asked.
“I thought so.” Aqua responded.
“For a city, this place is empty.” Amethyst said.
“Halt!” A slightly muffled voice yelled to them fro the distance.
The three of them stopped in their tracks, terrified.
“State your business!” the voice yelled.
The three of them flicked on their speakers.
“We just want into the city.” Sol said.
Two figures approached, both very heavily clothed, with thick coats, and a cloth wrap covering their faces. They both carried large, ornate swords, which seemed to be more decorative than deadly. They were still quite sharp however.
“I’ve never seen you around before. How do I know you aren’t raiders?”
“We’re unarmed, and we don’t mean any trouble.” Aqua said.
“...All right. You may enter, after a search. But we will be watching you closely.” the guard said.
The three of them were searched for weapons, which they did not have. They stood still, and the guards began to search their suits for weaponry by running thier hooves across them, and doing a magical scan.
“Proceed.” the guards said.
Within the outer city it was still dark, but they could see a light up ahead.
“Light?” Sol asked.
“They must light the inner city.” Aqua said.
They approached the light, and the city streets were indeed lit by lamps. The streets were empty, with only one or two other ponies around at any given time, all wearing very thick clothing.. Closed down stores lined the streets, most of which were broken into and empty. At the center of the city, a statue of a young mare and a baby dragon stood.
“Twilight and Spike Sparkle, heroes of Equestria.” Sol read.
Surrounding this statue were five others, these just depicting mares.
“Who are these ponies?” Sol asked.
“The elements bearers, of course.” a pony walking by them said.
“Huh?” Amethyst said. “What’s an element bearer?”
“I thought everypony heard this story. They were heroes, who protected the land of Equestria long ago.”
“How?” Sol asked, honestly interested.
“”By wielding the elements of harmony. Each of them represented one element.” she said.
“Wow!” Sol said. “That sounds awesome!” Sol said excitedly
“Sounds like a kid’s story.” Amethyst said.
“I think it is.” the townsperson said. “That’s all its ever been, as far as I’m concerned, we all learned it as kids.”
“It sounds so real though.” Sol said.
“I’m not sure. It seems a little fake to me.” Aqua said.
“Maybe.” Sol said, shot down.
She looked to the suits the three of them were wearing.
“Are you new here? I’ve never seen anyone wear something like that before.” she said.
“Yeah, we just got here.” Sol said in a friendly manner.
“You might want to go talk with Princess Luna. I’m sure she’d want to meet you, if you’re from somewhere far away. She always seems to want to talk to foreigners like yourselves.”
“Luna?” Aqua asked.
“Princess!” Sol said excited. “Like in my dream!”
“What?” Amethyst asked Sol.
“She visited me in my dreams.” Sol said.
“Yeah, she does that. She’s supposed to be the guardian of dreams, after all.” she said.
“You mean she actually can appear in dreams?” Amethyst asked.
“I knew it!” Sol exclaimed, his wings fluttering fast. “I knew she was real! Where is she?”
“Up at the palace.” she said, pointing to the castle ahead.
“C’mon! Let’s go!” Sol yelled, rushing off ahead.
“Thank you for all your help.” Aqua said.
“No problem.” she said, heading along her way.
“Sol! Wait up!” Aqua yelled ahead, running after him.
Amethyst followed behind them, as they headed to the palace.